Social enterprise projects

Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Blue Venture Award, a contest for social entrepreneurs, was launched in HCM City on Tuesday to promote development of social enterprises and help solve social and environmental problem in the community. Organised by Pernod Ricard Vietnam and TV Hub, the competition also seeks to create a platform for young entrepreneurs, enabling them to reach out internationally to learn from start-ups around the world. The contest will select a representative for the country to participate in an international competition called The Venture to be held next May. The contestants, start-ups from fields that bring practical value to the community, will go through a selection process. Blue Venture Award is part of a global entrepreneurial award, The Venture, founded by Chivas Brothers, to support social entrepreneurs who aspire to promote positive change in the world and spread the message that a company can both do business well and create a social impact. It was first … [Read more...] about Global contest for social entrepreneurs comes to VN

Cricket One was listed among the seven social enterprises winning the Young Social Entrepreneurs 2018 programme, raking in an award amounting to S$20,000 ($14,500) to boost their business. More importantly, the programme has set the premise for 35 young social entrepreneurs, including two from Vietnam, to join a strong global network of changemakers. The winning social entrepreneurs at YSA 2018 Hailing from Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam, the teams presented their social enterprise ideas to a panel of judges at the YSE Pitching for Change session. Seven teams were awarded up to S$20,000 ($14,500) each to kickstart or scale up their business ideas for social change. They were chosen based on the impact and scalability of their social enterprise, as well as the commitment level of team members. The winning teams are (in alphabetical order): Cricket One (Vietnam): led by Nam Dang and Bicky Nguyen from Vietnam, Cricket One aims to … [Read more...] about Vietnamese team among top seven at Young Social Entrepreneurs

The “Love sharing” and “Wings of faith” programmes sent 5 billion VND (215,000 USD) worth of gifts to children of disadvantaged families. (Photo: dantri.com.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The Sai Gon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has been honoured by the financial publication Asiamoney as the best bank for corporate social responsibility in Vietnam. Asiamoney, a leading finance-banking magazine in the Asia, lauded SHB for its coherent strategy in shouldering responsibility for the community with various social security projects. Notably, the bank’s “Love sharing” and “Wings of faith” programmes sent 5 billion VND (215,000 USD) worth of gifts to children of disadvantaged families across the nation, along with invaluable leadership skills and lessons. In recent years, the bank has prioritised credit support to coffee farmers, who have made concerted efforts to transform Vietnam into the world’s second-largest coffee … [Read more...] about SHB honoured as best bank for corporate social responsibility

Since its debut by three young people in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2016, Sach Chuyen Tay (Books in the City) has created a venue to share and lend the favourite free books in Vietnam. The project aims to help spread the reading culture and connect the reading community by locating available book sources in society. Huynh Quang Dung (first from left) and his teammates standing in front of Sach Chuyen Tay's stall on Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Sach Chuyen Tay) While cleaning his house, Pham Ngoc Hoang Huy, 28, found many of his old books across the corners of his room. It would have been a waste to throw the books away, Huy thought, but he didn’t know what to do with them. Huy shared his problem with his friends, Huynh Quang Dung and Loc Nguyen, and it marked the birth of Sach Chuyen Tay. Initially, Sach Chuyen Tay was a small group where members shared their books with each other. However, the group quickly received great support from book … [Read more...] about Youth project helps to spread reading culture in community

Legal framework for child care on the internet Vietnam, with 64 million Internet users (67% of its population), is among Asian countries having the biggest number of Internet users. A majority of these users are children and teenagers, who are exposed to both benefits and dangers. In addition to close attention from parents and schools, a legal framework is needed to protect children from the risks of the cyber world. While browsing the Internet, children may encounter unexpected information and people. Their personal information can be hacked. More seriously, children can become victims of swindles, exploitation, harassment, and sex abuse. Online game and smartphone addictions can harm children’s mental and physical health. Parents should teach children how to find and use information on the Internet. Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the Department for Children of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, said, “Parents play a very important role. They should be … [Read more...] about Social News 7/8

US volunteer doctors offer free health checkups to Cao Bang’s poor US volunteer doctors from the Good Samaritan Medical Dental Ministry provide free medical checkups to poor people in Tra Linh district, Cao Bang. A team of American volunteer doctors provided free medical examinations for about 2,570 poor people in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang from July 9 – 19. The medical aid workers from the Good Samaritan Medical Dental Ministry (GSMDM) also offered free medicine to people from the district of Bao Lam, Bao Lac, Ha Quang, Tra Linh and Hoa An. After the medical screening, 53 people who needed acute hospital care were admitted to Cao Bang General Hospital. Twenty six of them received surgeries from the US doctors at the provincial health care facility while four others were transferred to central hospitals. In addition, the team presented 500 gift packages to pre-school children and elementary school students in the communes of Quang Thanh (Nguyen … [Read more...] about Social News 21/7

The implementation of synchronous measures to improve the power supply system has brought a facelift to Vietnamese rural areas, with 99.98 percent of communes nationwide and 98.83 percent of households accessing electricity as of 2017. The result was attributable to projects carried out by the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) in the past decade with financing from official development assistance (ODA) loans worth about 2 billion USD from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the German Development Bank, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Besides, the group has spent over 5.5 trillion VND (240.9 million USD) implementing projects to connect 369 communes with nearly 400,000 families in far-flung rural and border areas of Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Bac Kan, Nghe An, Lang Son, Khanh Hoa, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang to the national grid. EVN has invested in building power supply systems for island … [Read more...] about Social News 6/6

Last year, the nation’s average floor area per person rose 0.6 square metre to 23.4 square metres as compared to 2016 (Illustrative image. Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The legal corridor for social housing development has recently changed towards providing more incentives than it was first mentioned in the Housing Law in 2005. Last year, the nation’s average floor area per person rose 0.6 square metre to 23.4 square metres as compared to 2016. In 2017, a further 0.19 million square metres of social housing was added in urban areas, raising the total area for social housing in the urban region to 3.49 million square metres. According to Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha, the country now has more than 4 million square metres of social housing but only 40 percent of public demand has been met. The Housing Law in 2014 and the government’s Decree No.100/2015/ND-CP have provided full regulations and policies on the development and management of social housing, … [Read more...] about More incentives for social housing development

Illustrative image (Source: internet) Hanoi (VNA) - Digital technology and social media are powerful in supporting Vietnam’s goal to eliminate HIV by 2030, heard a forum in Hanoi on March 23. The forum brought together representatives from the government, the private sector, and communities to discuss how to further integrate HIV services and support into the digital age. Dr Phan Thi Thu Huong, vice director of the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control, said that over 50 percent of Vietnamese people have access to the internet, and a majority of them use social media. “We need to find creative ways to reach them through new and exciting social media channels,” she said. Le Minh Thanh, director of social enterprise G-link, said that our online community on social media provides a safe space for people at risk of HIV to learn and talk about safe sex and services such as HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). “We can reach more people … [Read more...] about Experts: Social media useful to control HIV/AIDS

This project was conducted under the New Colombo Mobility Program, a signature initiative of the Australian Government, which aims to lift knowledge of the Indo Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region. The program's members talking with Vietnamese children The Australian students had conducted conversations with Vietnamese entrepreneurs and other stakeholders, meetings with industry professionals, and with organizations supporting social enterprises in Vietnam. Their jobs were “reviewing local markets, researching best practice internationally and locally, and adapting business models to fit with the unique Vietnamese business environment and contexts.” said Dr Linh Nguyen, Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Network Asia Vietnam. Many social entrepreneurs engaging in the program appreciated the students’ work as they have helped the ventures to better their business and … [Read more...] about Scaling social enterprises in Vietnam 2018